Tough budget years, like the 2017-2018 fiscal year that starts July 1, often mean making the tough choices.

With limited resources to work from, and broad-based tax increases off the table for this year, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled General Assembly will spend the coming weeks engaged in spirited but we hope civil debate over how to best prioritize those choices.

But some issues simply cannot be put off.

Take, for instance, the Chesapeake Bay. The nearly 5,000-square-mile bay, and its even larger watershed, is an economic driver for at least four surrounding states.

It's still being polluted. Yet changing political currents will not cleanse it nor absolve Pennsylvania from doing its part to preserve this critical natural resource.

And he wants to see the state act as a responsible steward of the Bay:

"My commitment remains strong to the Chesapeake Bay," Wolf told the board. "I went to a [Chesapeake Bay Commission] meeting and signaled my determination to do what I can to make sure what we're doing in Pennsylvania is responsible."

And even if Pennsylvanians do not derive a direct benefit from the bay, as is the case for residents in Maryland and Virginia, "We are still right in the middle of the biggest part of the river that empties into the bay," Wolf said, referring to the Susquehanna River. "We have a big role to play in cleaning up the bay."

That's good news. Particularly because, politically, it's easy to kick this one down the road when public schools, the state police, the elderly and other worthy supplicants are all competing for the same pool of dollars.

It's also good news because, with the change of horses in Washington, if Pennsylvania doesn't honor its commitments to the Bay, the new Trump administration may not do anything at all.

Trump's priorities - strengthening the military, boosting economic competitiveness and pulling back America's gangplank to immigrants - will come, in part, at the expense of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The structural deficit must be eliminated. As a result, there is not a lot of money available for other things this year: There are members of the General Assembly who think spending reductions could go further.

So, the $5.1 million expansion of the 2017-2018 budget for Best Farm Practices - mostly, the shaping of the landscape to keep run-off out of the watershed - might be as good as it gets.

Priorities always change in Washington, and as surely as the Susquehanna River flows south to the Bay, so will pollution until it's mitigated, whether the Feds stay involved or distant.

Pennsylvania must recognize that what doesn't get done this year, because of reshaping the budget, must be prioritized next year.

In the meantime, let's get creative. Government institutions alone haven't solved this. Let's not just accommodate the private sector, let's invite them to the table.

And mostly, let's get past good intentions: Wolf is serious about looking to the horizon of clear water.

Others should join him, and get the process of renewal "rolling on the river."